


What I'm Fighting For

by DaronwyK



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, non-graphic mentions of torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2019-07-27 16:11:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16222640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaronwyK/pseuds/DaronwyK
Summary: Lost in a sea of violence and darkness, we all need something to hold onto. For Remus, it's the witch he's come to love more than anything. There is nothing he won't do for a chance to have a life with her once the war ends.AU-Remus never gets together with Tonks





	What I'm Fighting For

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Sing-Me-A-Rare B-Side. Much love to my fabulous beta Tori!
> 
> Song Prompt - Angel With A Shotgun, The Cab.
> 
> Winner:  
> Best Romance

**_I'm an angel with a shotgun, Fighting til' the wars won_ **

**_I don't care if heaven won't take me back_ **

**_I'll throw away my faith, babe, just to keep you safe_ **

**_Don't you know you're everything I have?_ **

**_And I wanna live, not just survive, tonight_ **

* * *

 

****

Remus fell forward into the dirt, blood coating the back of his tongue with a metallic tang as he felt a growl trickle past his lips. Everything was coming to a head and this was the last pack not allied with Greyback and Voldemort. He had to convince them to follow him and words were not doing it. Unbidden, a memory of soft brown eyes and riotous curls floated forward. He was doing this for _her_ , only for her. He tore off his robes and stood, squaring off against the man that had named himself as alpha for this group. This went against everything he’d ever professed to believe about his condition, he wasn’t rising above his bestial nature…no he was submitting to it, embracing it, celebrating it. It was the only way to win these wolves over to his side. He didn’t have the luxury of being a saint anymore, there had always been more sinner to him anyway.

 

“Submit, I don’t want to hurt you,” Remus said one last time.

 

“Too bad, because I really want to hurt you.” The man growled, moments before he rushed at Remus.

 

The full moon was pressing close tonight, not quite there, but it fed their darkness and stirred the beast inside them. They clashed together and in that moment he wasn’t Remus anymore, he was all Mooney. Mooney called up the beast and soon there were claws forcing past his fingernails, a feat only Greyback was known to pull off. Mooney attacked, forcing his opponent back and pressing his advantage. The wolf inside fighting because he knew these people could make the difference between victory and defeat when the final battle came. If they lost, his mate would likely be killed or worse. He was doing this for her and in this moment it didn’t matter how he accomplished his goal; just that he did.

 

He pinned the man into the dirt, a clawed hand on his throat. “Yield,” Remus growled, swimming up through the haze of Mooney to take control.

 

“We yield…alpha,” the man gasped out.

 

“Good.” He released him and stood. “We stand against You-Know-Who, and we will fight to defend the wizarding world. If we stand for them, they can’t treat us like monsters anymore,” he snarled, determined to make this work. Merlin, he hoped that she would understand what he was doing.

 

* * *

 

 

He’d almost forgotten how beautiful she was. Remus had gotten to Shell Cottage as quickly as he could, after getting news from Bill that she was there and that she’d been injured. She was standing on the porch, a crocheted throw wrapped around her shoulders as she watched the sun coming up over the ocean. He could see the stress on her face and his gut twisted uncomfortably as he saw just how much weight she’d lost in the months since he’d last seen her.

 

“Hermione,” he spoke her name softly as he approached.

 

Hermione dropped the wrap and crossed the porch, all but throwing herself into his arms. She held on tightly, and he buried his face into her chestnut curls, just breathing her scent in. She smelled like the forest after a rainstorm, earthy and full of promise. His hearing confirmed that no one else inside was awake yet, so they had a few moments of privacy at least. No one knew about them, or at least not that he was aware. All those months alone with Harry and Ron, he wasn’t certain that she hadn’t confided in them. Having her in his arms just reaffirmed everything he was fighting for, reminding him that everything he was putting himself through was for this, for a chance to have her in his arms again.

 

“Bill said you’d been hurt. Are you ok?” he whispered desperately.

 

“Not really.” She held on tighter, her voice catching a little in her throat. “Fleur says everything will heal, but it hurts and I was so scared.” Her strong exterior was shattering into a thousand pieces as he held her in his arms.

 

Remus picked her up and carried her over to the padded bench on the patio and sat down, just holding her against his chest. “I’m here now, it’s going to be ok.” He could smell the healing wounds, and his wolf raged inside, furious that anyone had dared to lay a hand on his mate. “Tell me what happened.”

 

The whole, awful story spilled from her lips in between tears and heart-wrenching sobs, and by the end there was one thing that Remus knew with perfect clarity. Before this war was over, he was going to see Bellatrix and Greyback put into the ground for daring to lay their filthy hands on her. He stroked her back, letting her tell him everything and get it off her chest, even as each detail killed him.

 

“I was so afraid I’d end up like the Longbottoms, that she’d destroy my mind…” she lifted her eyes and looked at him. “I was afraid that I’d forget you.”

 

Remus leaned down and pressed his forehead to hers. “You’re so much stronger than you know. You survived and protected your friends, that’s all that matters.” He just soaked in the feel of her safe and alive in his arms. “I hate that I wasn’t there to protect you.”

 

“We both have things we have to do, in order to win this war. If we do them right, we’ll win and get to be together again.” She slipped her hand into his and squeezed hard.

 

“After Sirius died, I was so lost,” he whispered. “You saved me, Hermione. You gave me something to fight for, someone to believe in again. You’re everything I have left in this world.” He lifted her hand up and pressed a kiss to her palm. “No matter where this war takes us, I’ll do whatever I have to in order to find my way back to you. I promise.”

 

The front door of the cottage opened and Bill came out, a strange look on his face as he took in the picture of the two of them curled up together on the bench. He then gave a very small, sad smile. “Coffee’s nearly ready, everyone else will be up soon. Unless you’re ready to share, I thought you could use a warning.”

 

“Thanks Bill,” Remus said and as they were left alone again, he brushed a soft kiss against her lips. He would die for this witch, and there wasn’t a single doubt in his mind that he might have to before this war was over. “Let’s go inside and then I’ll see if I can do anything for those wounds of yours.”

 

“I love you, Remus,” Hermione stroked his cheek before carefully getting up, ready to face the others. She gritted her teeth like a soldier heading to war, and Remus knew that like him, there was nothing she wouldn’t do to protect the people she loved. Hermione was his chance to really live, not just survive like he had been for years. That alone was worth sacrificing his ethics and ideals for, the chance to have a real life with the witch he adored.


End file.
